The Interpretations Series is pleased to announce its 31st season, which begins Thursday, September 26th, 2019.

From September 2019 to May 2019, Interpretations will continue its tradition of playing host to composers, interpreters, and improvisers — artists of both local and international scale, with myriads of approaches to music. Held at Roulette, 509 Atlantic Ave, Brooklyn, NY, tickets are $20 for adults / $15 for students & seniors, and available on Roulette.org and Interpretations.info.

On the heels of last year’s acclaimed 30th anniversary, the Interpretations Series is dedicated to nurturing the relationship of innovative composers with the growing community of new music virtuoso performers.

“When we started, this was a real need, especially for the more experimental new music,” says Founder and Artistic Director Thomas Buckner. “Now we are experiencing a blossoming of new music groups and solo performers, which makes the series necessary in a new way. There are so many exceptional composers and performers who need a great place to perform.”


The season begins with sets from composer/performer Ben Neill, and composer/pianist Rocco Di Pietro.

Rocco Di Pietro, a composer, pianist, author, and teacher whose music crosses multiple disciplinary boundaries, celebrates his 70th Birthday with a multi-decade curation of his works, including world premieres of Interrupted Dance (2019), and String Quartet (Imaginal Listening) (2012-17). Other works include In Ringings (from Four Preludes, 1974), The Staircase and The Safe Harbor (from Two Pastels for Lukas Foss (In Memoriam), 2009), and Wave (from Acoustic Poems, 1972). The program will also feature a special performance of the late Julius Eastman’s Hail Mary from 1984, with Di Pietro on piano.  (With Mivos Quartet, strings; Joseph Kubera, piano; Kathleen Supové, piano, recitation; Larry Marotta, guitar; and Robert Dick, flute.)

Also featured is the world premiere of Ben Neill’s Fantini Futuro: a new audio-visual performance work with interactive video projections, written for countertenor (Ryland Angel), Baroque keyboards (Gwendolyn Toth), and the mutantrumpet v4.0 (the debut of the newest rendition of Neill’s self-designed electro-acoustic instrument). The piece is based on the music and life of early Baroque trumpeter/composer Girolamo Fantini, who was responsible for bringing the trumpet indoors from the hunt and the battlefield to the realm of art music. The narrative depicts Fantini as a traveler through time and space, from the 17th century to the future, and reflects on the transformative power of current technology using the history of the trumpet as a metaphor.  Fantini Futuro has been supported by the Nokia Bell Labs Experiments in Art and Technology program, and is a joint force with NYC early music ensemble ARTEK.  (With Bob McGrath, director; Rachel Budin, lighting design; Liz Prince, costume design; Carl van Brunt, animation.)


Other performances slated for the season include:

※ THURSDAY NOVEMBER 7, 2019: JD PARRAN | AMIR BEY
JD Parran’s Harlem Reunion, a music/spoken word quartet, perform original improvisational compositions. With Alexis Marcelo (piano); Larry Roland (poet and bass); Jackson Krall (percussion). / Amir Bey & JD Parran present Elevated Moon: a ‘ritualistic happening’ with a combination of sound, movement, visual vibrance, and light projections.  With Soundrhythium Michael TA Thompson (drums & percussion); Bill Toles (light-magic); Chihiro Cute-Beat Kobayashi (movements and poses).

※ THURSDAY DECEMBER 5, 2019: MOMENTA QUARTET + ELIZABETH BROWN, FRANCES WHITE
The Momenta Quartet joins forces with composers Elizabeth Brown and Frances White in a multimedia evening fusing Western contemporary music with Japanese aesthetics, literary references, and a video/sculpture installation by artist Lothar Osterburg.

※ THURSDAY APRIL 9, 2020: THOMAS BUCKNER
Baritone Thomas Buckner presents his 31st annual concert of newly commissioned pieces with works by Earl Howard, Pauline Kim, JD Parran, and Buckner himself.  With performers Soo Yeon Lyuh (haegeum, a two-stringed Korean bowed instrument); Andrew Drury (percussion); Earl Howard (synthesizer and saxophone); JD Parran (reeds).

※ THURSDAY MAY 7, 2020: MÉLANIE GENIN | ENSEMBLE L’ART POUR L’ART
Mélanie Genin performs new music for harp by Christian Dachez, Michael Greba, Saad Haddad, Pauline Kim Harris, Mantovani, and Ricardo Romaneiro. / Ensemble L’Art Pour L’Art perform works by Matthias Kawl, Stephan Streich, Killian Schwoon and others.  With Matthias Kawl (percussion); Astrid Smelik (flute). Michael Shorder (guitar); plus special guest Thomas Buckner (baritone voice).


For more information, please visit interpretations.info

The Amagansett Life-Saving Station is not only a place of great historic importance, but one that is tied to the family history of Libero Canto‘s Deborah Carmichael.

The 2nd annual benefit concert for the Station will be held on Friday, June 28th, 5pm (160 Atlantic Ave. Amagansett, Long Island, NY 11930).  Held in its boat room, tickets are $20 in advance (amagansettlss.org) / $25 at the door.

Amagansett Life-Saving Station – photo by Olga Goworek

A documentary film about the Station was made, titled Ocean Keeper. Interviewing the Carmichaels and others, and integrating great archival footage, the film covers the 100+ years of its rich history. It has aired on PBS as a ‘Treasure of New York’, and was an Official Selection in both the Long Island International Film Expo, and the Hamptons International Film Festival.

To quote the Ocean Keeper‘s website:

“The Amagansett Life-Saving Station has been a unique centerpiece of Long Island history since it was built in 1902. Over a period of 44 years, the dedicated men who worked at the Station saved hundreds of lives. In 1942, four Nazi saboteurs were found by Coast Guardsman John Cullen close to the Station during a nightly beach patrol.

And in 1966, the building was rescued from demolition and purchased for a dollar by Joel Carmichael whose family lived there for the rest of the 20th century. After Carmichael’s death in 2006, the house was donated to East Hampton Town for historical preservation.”

(partially cited with permission from OceanKeeperTheMovie.com)


For more information on the film, please visit OceanKeeperTheMovie.com.
And for more information on Libero Canto, please visit LiberoCanto.org.

Nash Naubert, bansuri

Nash Naubert, Bansuri, will perform an Indian classical flute recital on Friday, July 5, 2019, 8pm at the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, located at 57th Street and Seventh Avenue in Manhattan. Naubert, an American citizen who has been living in India for the last 20 years, will be joined on Tabla by Aditya Kalyanpur, and by dancer Gaysil Naubert.

Tickets are $30-40 and are available at www.carnegiehall.org.


Nash Naubert has pursued the art of Indian classical music to a high level of virtuosity which, along with his touring and volunteer work, speaks to his passion for Indian classical music. Nash will be accompanied on tabla by Aditya Kalyanpur, a virtuoso of the younger generation of players worldwide. Together they will present traditional ragas that date back centuries. The concert will end with ‘Hamsa,’ a fusion piece originally composed by Nash Naubert. The piece reflects the sound of birds, and will be interpreted by Gaysil Naubert through an original Peacock dance (a ballet with Indian classical hand movements).

Program will include:
Raga Bageshree
Raga Kedar
Hamsa

A raga or raag (literally means “coloring, tingeing, dyeing”) is a melodic framework for improvisation in Indian classical music. The raga is an old tradition, and every performer expresses the raga in their own way. All of the music in the performance is completely improvised and composed by Naubert Naubert.


For more information, please visit nashnaubert.com

Promotional Partner: Harrice Miller

 

In 2020, the world will celebrate Beethoven’s 250th birthday.

Libero Canto presents two intimate concerts in tribute to Beethoven

In anticipation of his sestercentennial, this coming June 26 & 28, 2019, singers Deborah Carmichael, Kinga Cserjési, Berry Jones, and Peter Ludwig, joined by instrumentalists Nikita Morozov (violin), Valeriya Sholokhova (cello), and Douglas Martin (piano), will perform some of Beethoven’s little-known vocal works, as well as familiar favorites.

 

Program will include various ensemble and solo works by Beethoven including:
-concert aria Ah, perfido!
Mir ist so wunderbar from the opera Fidelio
-Piano Trio in E-flat major, Op.70, No.2: IV. Finale. Allegro
-Selections from Scottish Songs, Welsh Songs, and other Lieder

On June 26th, at 7:30pm, the Beethoven concert will be held at the Hungarian House, 213 East 82nd Street, New York, NY. Tickets available at https://beethoven2019.eventbrite.com.

The concert on June 28th, 5pm is the 2nd annual benefit concert for the Amagansett Life-Saving Station (160 Atlantic Ave. Amagansett, Long Island, NY 11930). Held in the boat room, tickets are $20 per person in advance (amagansettlss.org); $25 at the door.  Seating is limited and all seats are general admission.

“The Amagansett Life-Saving Station has been a unique centerpiece of Long Island history since it was built in 1902. Over a period of 44 years, the dedicated men who worked at the Station saved hundreds of lives. In 1942, four Nazi saboteurs were found by Coast Guardsman John Cullen close to the Station during a nightly beach patrol. And in 1966, the building was rescued from demolition and purchased for a dollar by Joel Carmichael whose family lived there for the rest of the 20th century. After Carmichael’s death in 2006, the house was donated to East Hampton Town for historical preservation.”
(partially cited with
 from OceanKeeperTheMovie.com)

On May 17, 2007, the East Hampton Town Board designated the Amagansett Life-Saving Station a historic landmark by resolution 2007-43. The board appointed an advisory committee of residents, which then became the nonprofit U.S. Amagansett Life-Saving and Coast Guard Station Society, overseeing the six-year restoration of the Station to its original 1902 design, an undertaking guided by the comprehensive Historic Structure Report commissioned from Historic Services Director Robert Hefner.


The four singers of “The Cozy Side of Beethoven” are students and teachers of the Libero Canto approach.  Libero Canto is a way of teaching and learning singing that liberates the vocal and musical potential of singers who wish to develop singing as an art form, and makes the joy of singing accessible to anyone who seeks it.

The name Libero Canto comes from the phrase, “la via al libero canto,” the path to free singing. This approach was first developed by Lajos Szamosi in Budapest before the Second World War. Libero Canto is a path, a process, and an attitude toward singing and music making. It is a humanistic, holistic approach that values authentic expression and the unfolding of individual potential, and trusts that if we imagine music clearly and allow our true, vital impulses to come through, the wisdom of the body will carry us toward increasing freedom in singing.


DEBORAH CARMICHAEL studied singing with Edvin Szamosi and piano at the Mannes College of Music Extension Division.  She has sung in Europe and the United States, with Lea Bracher as the Duo Delizioso, and since 2013 with Kinga Cserjési as La Compagnia Amarilli.  Deborah has taught singing in New York and Vienna since 1992, including workshops in Austria, Budapest and New York. In 2012, she initiated the Il Cuore Canta workshop series for young opera singers.  She produced the documentary film, “Libero Canto, Voice is Breath,” by Andrea Simon.

KINGA CSERJÉSI has a master’s degree in choir conducting and in the Kodaly method from the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music in Budapest, and a postgraduate degree in Early Vocal Music from the Fontys University in the Netherlands.  She studied singing with Heent Prins and Edvin Szamosi.  Kinga has sung internationally as a soloist and with various vocal ensembles and is a founding member of the Hungarian group, Bartok’s Roses.
 She has taught singing in Budapest and New York since 1994, and is currently living, teaching, and performing in New York City. 

BERRY JONES attended the Eastman School School of Music and the Manhattan School of Music in Vocal Performance. He was a choir director and organist for nine years with various churches in the New York area, and a music educator for the Archdiocese of New York for fifteen years.  He was also a teaching artist for the St. Luke’s Educational Outreach program and the Harlem School of the Arts. He has sung recitals and concerts in the U.S. as well as in Florence, Italy. Berry is currently studying singing with Sandy Goodman while transitioning from baritone to tenor.

PETER LUDWIG is a graduate of Juilliard and NYU.  He has sung principal roles with Vineyard and Encompass Theaters, Pensacola Opera, Stonington Opera Arts, et al. He was a soloist at Carnegie and Weill Halls and other venues in the U.S. and Europe, and has been featured in ten world or U.S. premieres.  Peter has taught singing at the 92nd Street Y and LaGuardia High School of the Arts, where he directed the Opera Workshop, as well as workshops and master classes for singers and actors in Greece.  Peter now teaches singing privately in New York City.


For more information, please visit liberocanto.org

On Wednesday May 29, 2019 at 8pm, Carnegie Hall will host both the University of Kentucky’s Symphony Orchestra and Wind Symphony in honor of the 100th anniversary of the School of Music at the University of Kentucky. The performance takes place at the Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage, Carnegie Hall, 881 7th Ave, New York, NY. Tickets are $20, and are available at carnegiehall.org or by calling 212-247-7800.

Conductors Birdwell (left) and Nardolillo (right)

130 players between the ages of 18-30 will appear onstage in this spectacular evening, which begins with the University of Kentucky’s Wind Symphony, performing an exciting array of contemporary and traditional concert band compositions. Among the selections are Sousa’s The Stars and Stripes Forever, all movements of Grainger’s Lincolnshire Posy, and the world premiere of Wildcat Run by composer James M. Stephenson, who will be in attendance. Designed to be ‘nothing but solid fun for 6 minutes’, Wildcat Run is a commission that highlights every section of the Symphony, with hints of Stephen Foster’s “My Old Kentucky Home” – a nod to the University’s 100 year run.

The University of Kentucky’s Symphony Orchestra follows with the Berlioz stand-alone overture Roman Carnival Overture, and Dvořák’s famous Symphony No.9: From the New World, which premiered at Carnegie Hall in 1893.


PROGRAM:

University of Kentucky Wind Symphony, under the baton of John Cody Birdwell:

Aaron Copland Fanfare for the Common Man (1942) (Dana Biggs, Conductor)
Julie Giroux  Symphony No. V: ‘Elements’ (2018) — III. Wind in Eb
Michael Daugherty Reflections on the Mississippi (2015) (with Matt Hightower, Tuba)
James M. Stephenson Wildcat Run (2019) — World Premiere
Percy Aldridge Grainger Lincolnshire Posy (1937)
John Philip Sousa The Stars and Stripes Forever (1896)


University of Kentucky Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of John Nardolillo:

Antonín Dvořák
Symphony No. 9 in E minor, ‘From the New World’ (1893)
Hector Berlioz Le carnaval romain (Roman Carnival Overture) (1844)


The School of Music in the University of Kentucky College of Fine Arts has garnered national recognition for high-caliber education in opera, choral and instrumental music performance, as well as music education, music therapy, composition, theory and music history.

For more information, please visit the UKentucky School of Music website.